​I’ll be honest with you: The quality of fringe history claims has declined markedly over the last couple of years as the great fringe history boom of 2009-2014 finishes fizzling out. Some days, I don’t really have anything left to talk about. The clickbait websites have reduced themselves to cheating their own audiences. I can’t tell you how many times a Google News alert has keyed me to some “new” fringe posting about ancient aliens, Atlantis, or whatever, and when I click through, I find that it’s actually a reposting of a video (and it’s always a video!) from two, three, five, or more years ago. The amount of actually new content being produced is shockingly low.

​Consider, for a moment, that there are thousands of websites that produce fringe history content, generating, in theory, hundreds of articles a day. Yet almost none of that content offers anything new, or even an original take on previous material. Not that this is unexpected; recycling claims is their bread and butter, but it’s the quality of the recycling that’s lacking. In the past, newly published articles would have more substance to them, but now the clickbait trash outweighs everything.

I thought about, for example, writing about the recent claim that a Mayan sculpture is a carving of a Grey, but I couldn't gin up the enthusiasm for a fantasy that lacked evidence and substance. It looks like a fake from the picture provided.

It is getting difficult to find 365 new things to write about each year.

I think there are a few factors at work. First, the crescendo of interest in crazy claims about ancient history that grew up in the wake of the success of Ancient Aliens was unsustainable. One by one, the imitation and emulation programs have faded away. In Search of the Lost Giants, America Unearthed, In Search of Aliens, Unsealed: Alien Files, and countless more have gone to that glowing UFO in the sky, whether officially canceled or lying in wait for the next fringe history boom. As I noted a few years ago, when we hit peak fringe history, there were entire days when interested viewers could follow programs like these from channel to channel around the clock, never watching anything else. That much of a glut of similar programming couldn’t help but cause a rating crash.

Only the strongest of these shows—mostly Ancient Aliens and Curse of Oak Island—survived. Their audiences, though, are rapidly aging. The Ancient Aliens spinoff on Viceland in which rapper Action Bronson watches the show while high on marijuana has a small following, a but a new study this week finds that its target audience, teens, find the Vice brand “uncool.”

The second factor, though, is that much of what started as the goofball claims of cable TV shows has been politicized in our partisan environment, and it is now an ideological article of faith rather than a pretended scientific mystery. That means that it is less something to write about to “investigate” questions and more a faith-based identity statement to be included in a polemic. To that end, much of the energy in fringe history has moved to conservative fantasies about gay Nephilim, creationism, and white supremacy. But discussions of such topics are often restricted to true believers, who aren’t looking for evidence but rather for affirmation.

The third factor, related to the preceding, is that modern political discourse is so riven with conspiracy theories and fantasies that there isn’t much mental space left for additional conspiracies. The current White House is riven with conspiracy theories about practically everything. Its media supporters have coopted so much of the energy behind fringe history that we actually see bizarre events like last week’s claim on televangelist Jim Bakker’s show that Donald Trump is God’s anointed and that God will curse the children and grandchildren of his critics. Here’s Mary Colbert speaking to Bakker after identifying Trump as God’s chosen vessel: “And if you come against the chosen one of God, you are bringing upon you and your children and your children’s children curses like you have never seen.”

I had this feeling that a day would come when "they" could produce so much shit that it would finally come over the top of those incredibly high waders of yours.

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Shane Sullivan

4/5/2017 12:40:55 pm

This must be that Singularity the sci-fi nerds are always talking about.

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Brian

4/5/2017 12:43:30 pm

Hey, you're doing important work. But you don't need to do it every day (and sometimes twice a day). Cut back to once or twice a week. You've got the passion, you're pointing out important links between the fringe and what's happened to our politics.

But maybe when the blowback finally (I hope and pray) comes, and the sane majority finally force the fringe back into its dark, stinking ratholes, then you can sit back and say, "I did my bit, and now I can be free." But you've got important skills that are needed right now. Don't give it up. Just take a break, cut back a bit. Believe me, the crazies are not going away anytime soon.

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Clete

4/5/2017 01:10:30 pm

Jason, I agree with Brian, what you do is important and needed, but with the fringe saying the same things over and over and repeating themselves you end up pointing out the same things about their theories. This can get tiresome both to you and your followers on this blog. Take a break, everyone needs one once in a while. The fringe types are not going away, they have nowhere to go to except to beat the same dead horse over and over. When they return with more wild theories, you will be there to repute them and point out their errors in scientific logic and thinking.

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Kathleen

4/5/2017 01:33:55 pm

Perhaps you can branch out and add serial fiction or short stories

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Residents Fan

4/6/2017 06:30:17 pm

"Perhaps you can branch out and add serial fiction or short stories."

Or maybe Jason could do some reviews of horror fiction? I'd like to hear his take on the fiction of people like Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Stephen Volk.

Graham

4/5/2017 12:54:04 pm

You could always try reviewing Richard Mooney's 'Colony:Earth'...

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Americanegro

4/5/2017 02:20:15 pm

As a wise man once said:

My Masonic affiliations are none of your concern nor do I have to prove anything to you about my knowledge of the works of our Founding Fathers. Your comments are becoming combative and not furthering the discussion.

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Walt

4/5/2017 02:44:12 pm

I'm surprised you made it this long covering this stuff.

I found all the background work you did along the way really interesting and wouldn't mind reading more about it, like how academia works. How many journals? Are they all objective? Are there fringe journals? How many paying subscribers now and in the past? How many archaeological digs are going on? Where are they and why do they matter? Your insights into the publishing industry have made for a pretty good read too.

You could expand on these things you've only mentioned tengentially, and I'd be interested. Or, you could just take some days off. You definitely deserve it.

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Ruth

4/5/2017 02:55:42 pm

There isn't much foreign fringe stuff you can look at?

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Tom Mellett

4/5/2017 03:31:05 pm

It seems to me that the "great fringe history boom" is going bust because it is all founded on finding objective scientific evidence to prove the ancient or the alien hypotheses.

But now there's a new paradigm shift happening in which the objective truth no longer matters, and instead the subjective religious evidence is what will "prove" the ancient and alien hypotheses.

Of course I'm referring to the Sekret Machines project which dismisses the old "nuts & bolts" paradigm of UFOs and disclosure. And you yourself, Jason, are also noticing the shift with your recent post about Steven Greer's new movie that is evoking the Fundy Christian Apocalypse.

And that's a good segue into Tom deLonge who strikes me as still operating under a psychological "reaction formation" against the Fundamentalist Christianity that his mother imposed on him.

Then, when you add the Dark Lord, Peter Levenda, to the mix, well, then you've got the Satanic evil Crowleyan/Lovecraftian opposite pole to deLonge's and Greer's occult angelic and apocalyptic "Jesus-freaking."

I foresee a new fringe history boom once those Sekret Machines pick up media steam, so you'll never run out of topics to write about then.

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Only Me

4/5/2017 04:04:42 pm

This means you have more time to collect more source material used by the fringe to argue for aliens or whatever. Maybe translate those texts you find interesting. Work on another idea for a book. Look around the house for any future projects you might want to do. Don't worry, the fringe binge cycle will eventually return (sigh).

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Tom Mellett

4/5/2017 04:25:11 pm

Wait a minute, Jason! As soon as I sent you my comment above, I came across this news story, which may just be the story you need to investigate and write about. Everybody loves a mystery, right, especially ones about UFOlogists who suddenly vanish.

A UFO enthusiast who mysteriously vanished last week left behind a den plastered wall-to-wall with Illuminati codes and symbols.

Bruno Borges, 24, disappeared from his home in Rio Branco in the west of Brazil having spent the past month working on what is being described as a secret project.

In his furniture-free bedroom, police found a £2,000 statue of 16th-century philosopher Giordano Bruno who predicted alien life, 14 encrypted books and signs associated with the Illuminati spread across the floor.

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Bob Jase

4/5/2017 04:39:35 pm

How do you compete with crazy claims like that?

Sex.

Fortean sex, of course.

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Mike Morgan

4/5/2017 04:58:38 pm

Well, you would have plenty to write about when, or really IF EVER, some (the un-dynamic duo XplrR team for example) would deliver the goods on revealing their "secret" projects they have been working on and teasing about for years, their promised "papers" -maybe even "peer reviewed", White or other colors, promised books - new or long over due, promised "full length feature documentaries" suitable for television and/or theater, etc., etc.

Oh, I see that the eBook version is finally out for $7. I guess I can spare the $7!

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Mike Morgan

4/6/2017 12:02:00 am

Great! So looking forward to review. If I understand correctly, this will be the first time we are exposed to a good portion of the "c-document".

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BigNick

4/5/2017 06:05:33 pm

Fringe theorists have had nothing new to write about for 30 years, but that hasn't stopped any of them. Besides, isn't history going to make a 3d Jesus face this weekend? That's gotta be something.

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Americanegro

4/5/2017 06:41:43 pm

Does anyone know about a Graham Hancock-like book that probably came out 1990-2006 and toward the end it tells you how to derive the Megalithic Yard using a pendulum? I lent it to a friend and surprise, never got it back. Can't remember the title. Thanks!

Sometimes you have to find a way to make what you do more enjoyable. Maybe fun posts about personal favorite theories that make you laugh. The reddit post with the flat earth shadow on the moon was a good example of fun at the expense of fringe theories. There are so many fringe theories out there, you have to have some that sound "squatchy" to you.

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Campblor

4/5/2017 07:40:27 pm

Bigfoot is still on the loose, until they bring him to justice there will be plenty of shows/crap out there for years to come

Mountain Monsters is back this week. Grab a pint of Pa's shine and ride the ride.

Or on a more serious note, there's a bit of a grimoire renaissance going on right now. I'm not sure how you'd get your hands on/afford some of these $300+ bound in goat skin in small batches tomes, but given your past researching into tracing the history/inspiration of ancient alien theories, it'd be interesting to see you unleashed on the bespoke occult movement.

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Americanegro

4/5/2017 10:03:43 pm

If you're accidentally soliciting ideas, I'd like to see a piece on "Major Ed Dames".

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PostModernPrimate

4/5/2017 10:30:31 pm

As much as I genuinely look forward to your daily posts, might it be time for you to concentrate on deeper, long-form investigation? I'm certain you could take much of the work you have already done here and combine it with more digging to produce a fascinating (and timely) book on the relationship between fringe beliefs and the resurgence of neo-fascism and the alt-right.

Given the current political climate, I'm certain you would be able to find both a publisher and an audience for that type of research.

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Joe Scales

4/6/2017 11:33:55 am

Problem is, it's difficult to delve into politics without catering to bias and partisanship; which corrupts discourse.

Isn't there enough of that going on in nearly every aspect of life right now? The middle ground, once our safe haven, might as well be Atlantis.

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Clint Knapp

4/5/2017 11:33:25 pm

Honestly, man, the stuff I like best is the historical delving into roots and origin texts you do- not the fringe-wackadoo-of-the-day articles.

At this point, the high-profile con artists like Marzulli, Von Daniken, Hancock, and the like are so set in their ways they become laughably predictable, and the mid-carders like Lavenda, DeLonge, Wolter and the cable talking-head bunch are just following along picking up scraps of crazy dropped by much more "accomplished" fringers.

Ancient Origins and its click-bait ilk aren't even worth a footnote, really, and those articles are the ones I tend to tune out on the most.

If I get burnt out on reading about the day-to-day stuff I can only imagine how you're feeling right now writing about it. You're at your best when you're working with source material (see; your entire library). It certainly takes more time and effort, but that extra work shows in the articles themselves.

As a long-time reader I certainly wouldn't begrudge you a less-than-daily writing schedule if it meant more scholarly pursuits, and I hope many others feel the same way.

I enjoy writing the archival stuff, too, but the trouble is that it takes so much time! To translate a text can take days or weeks, and researching each document is time-consuming. For a variety of reasons, I will be cutting back the blog posts' frequency in the coming months (probably to take weekends off) and it would be nice to take the extra time to do more of the research I enjoy rather than whatever the outrage of the day is. But while regular readers like the deep articles, the reactions to current events attract the largest number of readers, presumably from people who are looking for facts about what they saw online.

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David Bradbury

4/6/2017 09:03:22 am

Look on the bright side. Here's a work-in-progress on some real history, involving at least two conspiracies, and some major constitunional questions:
http://www.pastpresented.ukart.com/albany-v-berkshire.htm

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An Over-Educated Grunt

4/6/2017 09:42:24 am

Redirect. Tell us about the effects of provable real-world conspiracy on modern conspiracy culture. Since I know it's in your interests I'm specifically thinking about the murder of Franz Ferdinand.

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David Bradbury

4/6/2017 02:15:18 pm

What? They killed the whole band?

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Americanegro

4/6/2017 04:00:46 pm

Someone wanted to take them out.

bkd69

4/7/2017 09:33:44 am

I've enjoyed the examinations of the intersection of fringe history and political ideology. I came to the realization many years ago, that Fox news in the modern incarnation of Lovecraft, which I think dovetails nicely with your interests.

But, hey, you do you.

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RiverM

4/7/2017 08:59:10 pm

Your content interests me no matter if the subject is historical, current or all out woo and is usually the first site I check out during lunch time. Take a break every now and then or more. I'll opine with great confidence that all your fans have your back. Do you.

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Byron DeLear

4/9/2017 08:27:11 pm

Congratulations Jason on a good run. A marathon. So much of the recycled stuff has created so many cross links within your site. A question for Jason and the group -- I'd like to hear more about why you think the excitement that used to be generated by fringe/conspiracy stuff has waned. It just seems to have played itself out and the reasons for the ratings crash is it's all so unexceptional and boring. Is it because these identity based conspiracy theories, etc. are so common now and the spate of History shows, other cable offerings, websites with homemade youtube vids etc. have multiplied to the point of making these ideas uninteresting? Has it been the deluge of alternative facts and fake news into the mainstream that has inundated the audience?

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Abraxas

4/10/2017 06:40:08 am

I suppose, personally, I'd trust Jason if he says the fringe science stuff is winding down. But otherwise, I would have guessed that it wasn't winding down; it only seemed like it was, because the amount of recycled content for clickbait is increasing (for both "articles" and videos). I would have thought it would have been a case of information fatigue, since every month that goes by more and more clickbait gets posted, which means more content gets recycled.

It's probably tougher to wade through the crap these days, because new and original content won't always outrank the spam that's being driven with SEO. On the other hand, Jason probably follows a lot of specialized publishers and less-popular sources, since he's been doing this for so long. He's probably right, if for no other reason than clickbait will always make more money than original content these days...

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Mike Morgan

4/11/2017 07:55:17 pm

The History Channel is going to supply at least one more "new stuff to write about" with the presentation on Easter of "The Jesus Strand: A Search for DNA".

"Now for the first time in history a man of faith and a man of science are teaming up to search for Jesus' DNA. Using the latest advances in DNA technology Oxford University geneticist George Busby and biblical scholar Pastor Joe Basile are investigating the world's most famous holy relics including the Shroud of Turin, The Sudarium of Oviedo and the newly discovered bones of Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist. Their journey takes them to holy sites around the world from Spain and Italy to Israel and the shores of the Black Sea. By extracting and analyzing samples of each of these holy relics they hope to retrieve a sample of DNA that possibly belongs to Jesus or a member of his family. They believe that if they can find a strand of Jesus' DNA it could help identify who among us today are descendants of Jesus and provide us with new insight into the man many consider to be the most important person in history, Jesus."

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nomuse

4/13/2017 02:44:25 am

As another Primate said above, this could be a good time to go deep. Of course you already go deep, deeper than most. But I think there's still space for meta-analysis, for looking at the broader patterns and the social forces behind them (and what comes out of them in turn).

On a side note, as an ex-Apollo warrior I understand the feeling of the old battle just sort of drying up and blowing away.

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I'm an author and editor who has published on a range of topics, including archaeology, science, and horror fiction. There's more about me in the About Jason tab.